Jamie Dixon Guys Quotations

We've always played three guards in certain instances over the years. A number of programs do that. Oftentimes, your smaller players are your better players. Last year, our bigger guys were our better players.

Levon was obviously very good tonight. It was a team effort. I like our 11 guys and I have confidence in all of them. I think you can see that and they all seem to step up.

One of our strengths as a team is that we don't foul or over-extend ourselves. We try to play sound positional defense, which keeps us out of that kind of trouble. Even with the depth we have, we always stress to our guys that we can't give fouls away.

Carl set the tone with his nine assists. That makes us hard to guard when he's playing like that. It was a great team effort. We had a lot of guys step up.

He's a great player. He's been a winner from the day he got here. The guys know that. They can sense it. It carries over with his competitiveness. The guys are watching, and I think Carl enjoys it. He relishes it. He's proud of what he's done here, and he should be.

He's a great player, a tough kid, a former McDonald's All-American. The key is we have tough guys who can battle down low, and we're deep, so we can keep rotating guys in to play him very physical.

I think we passed the ball well and got a lot of good performances from guys on the court and off the bench. I thought all of our guys played very well.

I thought our guys had a whole team effort, and our defense, rebounding and decision-making was solid all the way through. We were fortunate to beat a very good team and we've got to get ready for Syracuse now.

I think we should have nine teams in the NCAA tournament. I think we should set a record. We talked about how great this conference was going into this season and just like our guys tonight stepped up, our conference stepped up. We deserve nine bids. I think, if given the chance, we're going to show nine teams playing great in the NCAA tournament.

Our guys were ready to play. We played hard. It was just bad execution. We rushed things. Our poor offense lead to our defense deficiency. Both teams battled on the floor and were going hard.

Our whole thing has been to continue to improve. Not a lot was expected of these guys by people but they have been gaining confidence and we're continuing to improve.

Replacing guys has always been a constant in this program. Guys have always stepped up. Carl went from a backup to a guy who plays 30 minutes a game. That's the transition guys are going to have to make. I expect that to happen this year as well.

We'll be ready to go. Our guys will be anxious to go. We took care of business (Saturday). We played very well throughout.

We don't concern ourselves with our record. It's all about getting better. We're not near where we need to be defensively. That's what we talked about after the game. We need to make significant progress defensively, and with the number of young guys we have, I think we're capable of doing that.

You always wondered how the relationship was going to work out with two guys that are so competitive. But both guys wanted to win so bad that they knew it was the right thing.

We had four good games up there. We got a lot of good things out of it. A lot of guys got some good, big-game experience in a hostile atmosphere similar to what we'll face in the NCAA tournament. We got better last week. That's the biggest advantage.

We never consider that. Tonight, I actually considered it. I thought about it because they were making so many unbelievable shots. The shots they were making were unbelievable, consistently deep and with a hand in their face. We had very few mistakes out there defensively. Guys were making shots from 35 feet.

We had everybody step up. We had five guys in double figures.

We haven't played in so long, it seems. I know the guys are anxious to play. I'm sure glad it's Saturday. I don't know how much longer we could wait to play a game. The guys want to play, and I'm ready to play.

We played well early. That would kind of make you think the guys were obviously ready to play and there was nothing else on their minds. During the first five or six minutes, we were about as good as we've been all year.

We want to help all our guys in any way we can, if they want to further their careers, but our focus is on our guys and getting ready for (first-round opponent) Louisville. People are smart enough to know when the right time is to talk about other schools. Every situation is different, so to give a blanket statement wouldn't be the right thing to do.

We're not really out to prove anything to people. We play to compete. These guys like to play against the best people and they like challenges. They compete here in practice and it doesn't really change.

We had to go and change some minutes with the foul trouble. But it's not a surprise the way we responded. I expect those guys to respond.

We knew as a team that they were going to come back strong in the second half and our guys responded well.

You're not going to win every game. We understand that. Our guys will be fine. They're ready to go and anxious to play.

There were different guys stepping up making plays. It wasn't just Carl or Aaron. ... We got the ball to the right spots and eventually good things happened.

It wasn't our prettiest game. It was tough, and we battled through. We had guys in foul trouble. Aaron and Carl played the whole game with their hands in their pockets. We played our usual rotation, playing a lot of guys, and it benefited us a lot. We'll continue to do that. It's the best thing for this group. So many guys made big plays.

It was a very good team effort for us. I don't know where to start on the guys who contributed. Everyone stepped up. That's one of the best teams year after year in the country that we beat.

It was perfect execution by two freshmen and a sophomore. Five guys did exactly what we wanted to do.

I want guys who want to be head coaches. To be a good head coach you have to be a good assistant first. I want our guys looking at head coaching jobs and preparing to be head coaches because that makes them good assistant coaches.

They were a physical, tough team. Those were two teams getting after it and playing aggressive. We didn't outbound them and they got more free throws. Obviously, our big guys having foul trouble had something to do with it.

Their shots were deep, and oftentimes we had a hand in their face. Our guys made plays and there were very few mistakes. Some of the shots Notre Dame hit were from 35-40 feet. If you step out on those, it's bad defense. It was a game for the ages and I'm just glad we battled and found a way to win.

Their experience is a major issue. They have so many experienced guys who have played together for so long. They are a team that has grown together.

I know the guys are anxious to play. I don't know how much longer we can wait. The guys want to play. I'm ready to play. It's been awhile.

I know when people looked at our inside guys on paper before the season, they wouldn't be in awe. But I always told people we were going to be all right.

I had a lot of confidence in some of the guys that hadn't played a lot before this year. Their numbers didn't stick out from the previous year.

I haven't really given it much thought. We're not guys that look at records.

I guess the numbers say it right there. These two guys made shots all night.

He's not forcing shots, he's recognizing what's out there. His defense was really good. They were trying to make the other guys beat them, and he understood that.

These guys don't faze me. We've had a great year.

These guys are good players. They're experienced guys. We know them from last year. They bring a different dimension. They're very active, athletic and quick. They are probably the best all-around big guys we've played so far.

The guys just made shots and that was passing more than anything. We kept getting the shots we needed.

The guys are working and they're getting better. They don't look at it as being 15 and 0, they look at what they can get better at and that's what you have got to do.

The great passes ... the shooting percentage shows the passing decision-making our guys made throughout. Great job passing it and finding the open guy and recognizing their double team (on Gray), which we knew they were going to do.